In celebration of our purse obsession, Sew News asked Nancy Zieman and five CK Media editors to join the fun. Clover’s new Trace ’n Create Bag Templates with Nancy Zieman are fun and simple to use and offer tons of customization possibilities. They’re offered in two styles, the Town & Country Collection and the City Bag Collection, both of which include instructions for making six bag variations. But that’s just the beginning! Read on to see what Nancy and each editor did to create a truly unique handbag.

I can’t wait for spring flowers, so I selected a bright floral-print Amy Butler fabric for the outer bag and a coordinating mint green solid fabric for the bag lining. The bag patterns allow you to adjust the width of the bottom base, so I made the base as wide as possible (5”). To add the green appliqué stripes, I cut four 13⁄4”x 12” strips from the lining fabric. I fused interfacing to each strip wrong side for extra stability. Before I constructed the bag, I positioned the interfaced strips on the interfaced outer bag pieces, aligning them at the strap placement marks along the bag upper edge. I pinned the strips in place and zigzag stitched along each strip long edge. I constructed the bag according to the pattern guidesheet, but instead of using a magnetic snap or closure tab, I covered a 2”-diameter button with lining fabric and created a 3⁄8”-wide button loop from the bag fabric. I added a few extra inches to the strap length and zigzag stitched the strap edges to coordinate with the appliqué stitching, using Clover Create-a-Strap interfacing between the fabric layers for extra sturdiness.

Sew News' primary focus is garment sewing for women, but we also include stories on sewing for men, children and specialty groups like senior citizens, plus sizes, petites and the handicapped. We also cover home décor, soft crafts, machine embroidery, and various fabric embellishment methods, such as stamping, painting, beading and stenciling. Emphasis should always involve sewing, fabrics or notions in some way. Sew News does not normally cover areas like hand weaving, hand needlecrafts, crochet, knitting or macramé.